Topic: what makes us different?Posted By: yas_m
Subject: what makes us different?
Date Posted: 10 October 2005 at 11:45pm

al salam 3alaykum this is my first post and i really need everyone because this is part of my graduation thesis. i want to hear everyone's ideas about what makes us as the muslim youth different from other youth communities? what makes us who we are? (i am an architecture student and my topic is the identity and space of the muslim youth) so please any ideas and thoughts you have would be great. thank you and RAMADAN KAREEM to everyone

Replies: Posted By: Dayem
Date Posted: 11 October 2005 at 2:05am

Quran says to the believers:

“You are the best of people, evolved for the service of mankind; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah.” (Al – Imran 3:110)

There are certain moral and ethical ills and misconduct which virtually degrade man to the level of animals. Islam instructs Muslims to cultivate high ethical qualities and avoid sins and wrong attitudes which may distort not only the man but also the whole society. First of all the belief in Allah, and then the observance of the five times of prayers, fasting, and zakat (charity) are those tenets of Islam which bind the Muslim community into a concrete shape.

Pardah (the covering of the body and face for women) is to safeguard and protect her modesty and chastity against exploitation and degradation. Pardah holds a significant role in Islamic community. It prevents immorality, immodesty and shameless acts in Muslim society. Intermingling of men and women is not encouraged in Islam. Likewise, other qualities to uplift moral evolution of the society are enhanced; the Prophet said

“I have been sent down by God to teach moral virtues and to evolve them to highest perfection.”

Here are such virtues which can make Islamic society a safe haven in the world and will ensure salvation for its members in the hereafter:

Truthfulness and Honesty:These qualities were the virtues of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) due to which he was given titles of Sadiq (the truthful) and Amin (Trustworthy) by his enemies who approved of these qualities present in his personality. Quran says

“O ye who believe! fear God and be only with those who are true (in word and deed).” (9:119)

“Behold, Allah bids you to deliver all that you have been entrusted with unto those who are entitled thereto.”(4:58)

Lack of honesty pollutes the whole atmosphere with suspicion, distrust and loss of faith.

Justice:Justice is an integral part of Islamic ethics. It is the core morality. It should be practiced in all spheres. Quran says

“God commands justice and doing of good.”(16:90)

“And let not the hatred of others to you made you serve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety.” (5:8)

The Prophet said

“The people who will come under the shadow of Divine mercy on the Day of Resurrection will be those who accept a trust when it is offered to them and restore it willingly to the rightful claimant when they are asked to do so, and who judge in respect of others exactly as it would in respect of themselves.”

Supremacy of Law:Law is defined as the set of rules established in a community, demanding or prohibiting certain actions. A citizen has to abide by the law and show respect to it. According to Quran, Allah is the greatest lawgiver and Judge, and all His creations have to obey His commands and follow them. No one can change His law. Those who refuse to obey are wrong-doers. Islam is the greatest law-giving institution in the world. The main reason for the violation of laws are selfishness, and considering oneself above the law. Islam strictly considers both these aspects. It creates a sense of discipline in man to obey and it inculcates a fear of Allah in him. Islam awakens the consciousness of man by keeping in his mind the fact that he will answer to God; if he escapes from the punishment through deception or abuse of power, he will not keep away from the torture of Hell in the Hereafter.

-------------"the mooslims! they're heeere!"
LOONWATCH.COM

Posted By: aishag88
Date Posted: 07 November 2005 at 12:00pm

I wish I could help. I am still trying to find "myself"

Posted By: herjihad
Date Posted: 07 November 2005 at 4:05pm

Bismillah,

I will ask my daughter if she can help you.

-------------Al-Hamdulillah (From a Married Muslimah) La Howla Wa La Quwata Illa BiLLah - There is no Effort or Power except with Allah's Will.

Posted By: Amina16
Date Posted: 10 November 2005 at 7:31pm

1st Question:What makes us muslim youth different from others is we live by the islamic way. We respect one another. We don't hate. We pray 5 times a day. We memorize the Quran. We have more responsability than other youths. excetra...

2nd Question: What makes us who we are is our religion Islam (we r muslim youth.) People around us makes us who we are. Life makes us who we r.

-------------"Words have Power" ex: The Quran

Posted By: herjihad
Date Posted: 11 November 2005 at 3:11am

Bismillah,

Well, she's really busy.

From a non-youth, I would point a couple of things. Yes, there are youths whose mantras resemble what Dayem and Amina talk about. But there are, of course, others who do not. I assume you want to count them also because even if these religious Muslims might not count them as Muslim Youths, they probably fit in your idea of your categorization.

They don't wear scarves or beards or go to the Mosque unless their parents encourage or make them. Even if they do go and wear scarves, they don't wear them to school or the mall. They look hip and cool and listen to rap and popular music from the culture they belong to. They blend in when they want to, and they group together if they can when they find others like themselves. They usually date, even if it's only at school.

Whether they realize it or not, they identify strongly with the politics of Islaam, especially those coming out of and related to their particular culture. Because even if a Muslim youth can blend into a group of kids at the mall, when the news comes on of a slaughter in Baghdad, an earthquake in Pakistan or a riot in France or Algeria, they feel it so strongly that the need to blend can melt away with their hot emotions and ideas on the current event. Their cool friends hear about their backgrounds and families when these things happen. They make decisions whether or not to hear about these events from the Muslim Youths' points of view or to slink away or to vocalize that that's uncool.

And this group of Muslim youths may have friends whom they like or enemies whom they battle with who are religious. So the people around them hear about this too. They may join with the religious group and sit with them at the mosque, or they may actively group together and apart from them forming two distinct groups. They may not have much choice and just blend at the mosque with others from their original culture, or there may be enough of them to have a group of 2nd generation Muslim youth not based on religiousity, but on the fact that they speak English fluently, and their original language and culture seem a bit more distant to them than their peers who are 1st generation.

-------------Al-Hamdulillah (From a Married Muslimah) La Howla Wa La Quwata Illa BiLLah - There is no Effort or Power except with Allah's Will.

Posted By: Amina16
Date Posted: 11 November 2005 at 3:05pm

Yas_m asked what made us different then other youth. Not what makes us the same as other youth. But we do have many similarities as other youth. For example we love to have fun. We hate doing chores .......................................

-------------"Words have Power" ex: The Quran

Posted By: Dayem
Date Posted: 11 November 2005 at 9:11pm

But these r minor similarities...look at the major differences...Qur'an says we are 'evolved for the service of mankind'(3:110).We r abdullah...slave of Allah(swt)...which naturally makes us different.Whatever we do, or try to do everything according to the wish of Allah(swt), other ppl r free to do whatever they wish for.